


Stolen Time

by Fuhadeza



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Spirit World Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-08-26 19:50:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16687828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuhadeza/pseuds/Fuhadeza
Summary: Korra and Asami's vacation, as told through a series of vignettes. Mostly fluff with some light character development!





	1. Together We Can Change the World

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> Way back in 2015 I started writing a proper, novel-ish length korrasami fic. I gave up on it after a while, first when I started focusing on other projects, and second when Turf Wars came out and it all started to feel a bit unnecessary.
> 
> As part of that fic, though, I wrote a bunch of loosely connected vignettes set during Korra and Asami's trip to the Spirit World. (I love that there is a tag for this.) Today I finally thought, hey, wouldn't it be a shame if _all_ of that writing went to waste, and wouldn't those vignettes work pretty well on their own?
> 
> So, in the full awareness that I am nearly four years late to this particular party, here they are. I hope the three of you still checking the korrasami tag find something you like. :D

“You know,” Korra says, and this is a bad sign. She’s lying on her back, pillowed slightly in my lap, and her fingers trace idle patterns down my arm. “We really need to up our game.” Her eyes smile up at me.

I bite. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” she says, all fake-innocence. “I’m supposed to be the most powerful woman in the world. You actually  _ are _ the most powerful woman in the world, but--”

“I think Fire Lord Izumi would have something to say about that,” I say, trying in equal measure not to laugh or duck my head away.

Korra waves this off. “Top three, then. Still, between the two of us, we really should have had the world sorted out by now.”

I arch an eyebrow, but Korra doesn’t notice and the effect is wasted. “We’ve saved the world a couple times.”

“I’m the Avatar. Comes with the territory. Aang saved the world at least three times and he spent most of his time arguing with Zuko and getting bogged down in politics.” This time I do laugh, and Korra smiles at me. “I’m the Avatar, but we…  _ we’re _ more than that. And together we can change the world.”

Some time passes in the indeterminate languid way Spirit World time has. Korra makes herself more comfortable, and I stroke her hair absentmindedly. Eventually she says, “I’m serious, you know.”

And I smile, because she is. “I know. So what’s the plan?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was intended as the prologue, which is why it's so short.


	2. Evening Grass

I wake up and Korra is gone. Old fears beat at walls raised slowly over the years but I stand up, stretch, run a hand down the tree beneath which we sleep, letting my fingertips learn the texture of its bark. My favourite, I had called it, and Korra had teased me about it for days afterward.

The Spirit World does not admit to walls, and there are no fears left. I make tea, and walk among the trees, and wait.

*

Korra finds me hours later, reading on the grass. She sprawls next to me, out of breath but beaming. “Asami! I’m sorry, I was hoping I’d be back before you woke up.”

“You’re the one who sleeps all day,” I say, putting my book down.

She laughs, rummaging through her pack. “Okay, so it took longer than I expected. Did you get my message?”

“What message?”

“I asked one of the spirits to let you know I’d be back soon.” She exclaims in triumph, wrestles a pile of paper from her pack and sets it to one side.

“Memo: in future, do not rely on spirits to deliver important messages,” I say, reaching out for her prize, but a sudden stillness makes me look up into her eyes.

“Asami. I’m sorry. I thought you knew. Were you worried? It was stupid, I shouldn’t have gone--”

“Korra.” I cut her off. “I waited three years for you. I can handle another afternoon here and there.” My hand finds hers, brief and reassuring. “Now tell me where you went that’s got you in such a good mood.”

She relaxes visibly and the light is back in her eyes. “Here, have a look through these.” She hands me the topmost and I recognise the masthead of a Republic City newspaper. I check the date.

“You went back?”

She nods. “Just for a bit. Don’t worry, I was careful. No-one saw me. Just wanted to get these.”

I leaf through the stack of newspapers. They cover most of the period we’ve been away, and slowly the headlines stitch themselves into a month’s time. “It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long,” I say quietly, and suddenly the paper seems heavy with finality.

“I know. Did you know there’d be elections? Even after everything that happened?”

“They probably wanted a show of continuity,” I say absently, running a finger down the list of successful candidates. “I see someone is doing well for herself.”

Korra grins. “I know! I thought Varrick would have gone for it first.”

“He’d be excellent at getting himself elected. Terrible at actually being a politician.” I turn the page. “Ah. Raiko’s still in, then.”

Korra makes a face. “Can’t have it all. Besides, he might be a tedious windbag, but at least Tenzin and Lin keep him in line.”

I don’t want to say it. “We should probably go back soon, shouldn’t we.”

“No. No way.” Korra laughs in delight. “Don’t you see? That’s the whole point I went back! To check on the world. And you know, it can last without us a little longer.”

I fidget. “Shouldn’t we be helping with the recovery?”

“Let the government handle it for once. Varrick and Zhu Li are keeping an eye on the details for you. Besides, it’ll be weeks before the recovery can really start. Plenty for you to do then, Miss CEO.”

I look at her leaning back on her hands, sun on her bare shoulders, grinning at me, and suddenly want nothing more than to be convinced. “If you’re sure.”

“When am I not? I figure, I’m on vacation. Tenzin said himself that I’d already done more than most Avatars did in their whole lives. I figure it’s allowed to be a long one.” Korra shrugs. “I checked back in, made sure the world was still there. It is. Job done. For now.” She leans forward again and bites her lip. “That is, if you want to stay here with me. If you’re not bored. I  _ was _ careful. Lots of sneaking around. As far as the world is concerned, we’re still officially… eloped.” She tries to hide her face on the last word.

“Of course I want to stay,” I say, and a smile slowly spreads across Korra’s flushed face. “After all, I’ve got a favourite tree.”

Korra yelps when I pull her to her feet, and together we dance over evening grass.


	3. Autumn

I wake up slowly, the sounds of the Spirit World - so familiar in pitch, but with a timbre all their own - percolating through a haze of undreamt dreams. It is early morning, bright and cool, and a mist sidles up to individual blades of grass. Above, the seasonless sun already threatens to burn the day into autumn’s span. For now, though, it is winter.

I disentangle myself from Korra and she rolls over, complaining wordlessly in her sleep. The cold cuts easily through the silk of my pyjamas, but it is the good kind of cold, the kind that promises warmth. I sit back, listen to Korra’s breathing evening out again, and watch the day rise.

It is well and truly warm when Korra finally stirs and looks at me with bleary eyes.

“Afternoon, sleepy Avatar.”

She sticks her tongue out at me, is interrupted by a yawn. “Morning.”

It is time to pounce.

“So, Korra, I’ve been meaning to ask. What word was it?”

I stifle a laugh at the look on her face, half asleep and half confused, and she glares at me. “What word?”

“You know, when we first saw each other again.” I smile. “I complimented your hair, you thought of something to say in return… but went with something else. So.” I let the smile grow predatory. “What word was it?”

Korra groans. “No fair. This is an ambush.”

“Yes,” I say seriously. “It is.”

“How come you get to be so perceptive, anyway?”

“Years of training.” I grimace. “Literally. So you’re saying there  _ was _ a word?”

“If I had a pillow,” Korra says, “I would throw it at you.”

“Ah, if we had aught but this soft grass for our pillows.” I pluck a blade of grass and flick it at her. Together we watch it flutter to the ground between us. “Looks like you have no choice.”

Korra glares at me and I smile back. After a few seconds she throws up her arms in dramatic defeat. “Fine! You win.” She scoots backwards and leans against my knees. “It wasn’t a word. It was the lack of one.”

“Very wise, Guru Laghima.”

She elbows me. “I’m serious! That moment, it was when I… when I realised that I couldn’t put it into words. What you meant to me, I mean. What I saw when I looked at you.” She stops and fiddles with a strand of hair.

Suddenly I’m glad she’s facing away from me, can’t see the heat rising in my cheeks. I slide forward until she’s leaning back against me, head tucked under my chin, and wrap my arms around her. She clasps her hands on top of mine and we sit in comfortable silence.

Eventually I say, “so instead you decided that the most appropriate word was--”

“Shut up.”

“And that was the  _ less _ embarrassing option?”

She tries to kick me, but the position makes it impossible. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“You mocked my pyjamas.”

Korra turns her head to stare at me. “You packed  _ silk _ pyjamas, what did you expect--”

My raised finger cuts her off. “Also, it was an efficient way of waking you up.”

She grumbles but subsides back into my arms. We watch the sun move slowly across the sky. “It was summer the whole first week we were here,” I say idly.

Korra hums agreement. “I don’t think the Spirit World has heard of seasons.”

“Maybe.” I smile. “But do you know what happened after a week?”

“What?”

I look at the sky, at the leaves changing colour almost before my eyes, at the girl, warm and happy, in my arms. “I told you autumn was my favourite time of year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this one is my favourite, light fluff though it is.


	4. Sunset

“Today,” Korra announces, “we are going on an expedition.” She is sitting on the ground, rearranging her pack.

It’s early. I’ve only just buttoned my shirt. The gleam in Korra’s eyes is alarming. “I thought this whole trip was an expedition.”

“Exactly! I promised to show you the Spirit World. You didn’t think it’d all be lying around in meadows drinking tea, did you?”

“Well, now that you mention it--”

“We,” Korra says loudly, “are going up there.”

I follow her gaze. A hill rises in the distance, the green of our forest grading sharply into red-brown at its base. The topology of the Spirit World is bizarre: there are no intermediate areas, just sharp boundaries where one terrain becomes another, as if someone had cut up the world and rearranged it out of place.

“Okay,” I say. “What’s up there?”

Korra shrugs. “I don’t know. The top of the hill?” She considers. “There’s probably a nice view. What d’you say?”

“Now that you’ve sold it so thoroughly...”

Korra laughs and throws her pack at me. I catch it reflexively. “For that, you get to carry that first. Secret supplies.” She grins. “Be careful with them.”

Against my better judgement, I grin back and gesture expansively in the direction of the hill. “In that case, my dear tour guide, lead on.”

*

We pass the time with light, meaningless conversation and later, as we reach the foot of the hill and the slope of the ground beneath us steepens, in companionable silence. It is not a difficult ascent - a switchback path winds up the hill, firm and reassuring - but there is a simple pleasure in the effort after days of voluntary leisure, like a punctuated sting among the feather touch of fingertips.

Halfway up we pause and rest. Korra unslings her pack and stretches, full-bodied, then unclips her waterskin and offers it to me. I take a sip and sit down against the rocks, watching breezes chase themselves through the treetops below. A small spirit watches us from the edge of the path, big-eyed, and I smile down at it.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Korra sits down next to me, one arm casually but carefully tucked around my shoulders.

“I was just wondering whether the path was natural or artificial,” I say.

She laughs softly. “Ever my engineer. So, what conclusions?”

“I’ve changed my mind three times so far. Would it be cheating to declare that the distinction bears little relevance in this place?”

She shakes her head. “No, I think that’s exactly right. Spirits are a thing of nature, but that’s exactly why they can’t truly be natural.”

I let this stand for a few seconds. “You know, that nearly made sense. Sort of.”

Korra punches my shoulder, lightly. “Watch it. This is the wisdom of the Avatar Korra. You should be honoured.”

I get to my feet, pulling Korra up with me. “Come, oh Avatar, let us return to our… spiritual path.”

Korra laughs as she shoulders her pack. “Spiritual?”

I shrug. “What else am I supposed to call it, if it’s neither natural nor artificial?”

“A path?”

I sigh theatrically and set off up the slope, forcing Korra to run to catch up.

*

By the time we reach the summit it is well into afternoon and we are both winded. The flat surface of the hilltop is not large, just big enough that we don’t need to worry about tripping over the edge as we explore our prize.

“So?” Korra says. “What do you think?”

“I think airships were invented for a reason,” I reply.

“Yes, and that reason does not involve short trips up a tiny hill.”

She comes to stand beside me, and together we look out over the landscape before us. A river cuts through endless red plains, grasses played with idly by the wind. On the horizon I think I see the glimmer of a larger body of water.

Korra smiles up at me. “For you."

“You had no idea this was here.”

She grins. “No. But I  _ did _ promise you a view. Do you like it?”

“Yes,” I say. “I do. Thank you, Korra.”

“More importantly,” she says, “look at these flowers here.” She uses her foot to point to a few small plants, sheltering under a rock. “I reckon these qualify this place as a meadow, wouldn’t you say?”

I laugh as I catch on. “But how are you going to heat the water?”

Korra pulls two earthenware cups out of her pack and fills them carefully. “Have you forgotten? I’m all powerful.” She holds a cup above her other hand, motions casually, and a small flame appears in her outspread palm. A minute later steam is rising from the cup and she hands it to me. “The container should be in there somewhere.”

I find it and add a measure of leaves as Korra heats her own cup. Soon we are sitting side by side, sipping gingerly at the hot tea.

“I nearly had forgotten,” I say. “With all the peace and quiet we’ve had.”

She smiles. “Sometimes it’s nice to just heat water and forget about the fighting.” A pause. “But also, sometimes it’s nice to hit things.” The smile fades away and she wraps her arms around her knees. “Asami, I’ve been meaning to… can I ask a question?”

“Of course,” I say, but a small strand of anxiety uncoils at her words.

“Does it ever… bother you? That I’m the Avatar, I mean. And... that you can’t bend.”

“No,” I say immediately.

“No?” Korra’s eyes are suddenly so large and hopeful I almost laugh.

I tick points off on my fingers. “I can fly just as well as you. Probably better. I can throw people around just as well as you, and in pure hand-to-hand combat I’m  _ definitely _ better than you.” Korra makes a strangled noise, but I ignore her. “Okay, you can shoot fire from your hands, but I can electrocute people with mine.” I consider a moment. “Healing, I’ll grant you. Also heating water. I’m not saying you’re not useful to have around.”

Korra laughs. “Mako did try and teach me lightning bending once, you know.”

“It didn’t stick?”

“No. It wasn’t pretty.” She grimaces. “I’m serious, though, Asami. It really doesn’t bother you at all?”

“Think of it this way. Does it bother you that I’m rich?”

Korra tilts her head. “Not exactly. Intimidates me, sometimes, maybe.”

I smile. “Intimidation we can work with. See? We both have our unfair advantages. Yours is just a little flashier.” When she still looks uncertain I take both her hands in mine and look straight at her. “Korra. It never has bothered me and it doesn’t bother me now. I’d never lie to you about this.”

She lets out her breath in a rush. “I know. Thanks, Asami.”

I take a deep breath. “But,” I say, and feel her flinch slightly. I squeeze her hand, but I can’t stop now. “What does bother me is that bending creates an imbalance in the world. It’s no one’s fault, but the very fact that some people have these powers and others don’t… well, people haven’t always handled it well.”

“You’re saying the Equalists had a point,” Korra says, very quietly.

“I guess I am.” I’m barely touching her but I can still feel her whole body tense. “Korra, of course they went far too far, but the Equalists could not have existed in the first place if there wasn’t some truth to their beliefs.”

Korra is silent for long seconds. Her hand squeezes mine tightly, making a fist almost, but the tension slowly bleeds out of her. “I know. Of course I know. I’m sorry, it’s just… it’s still difficult to hear. When people say things like that… It’s so hard not to think that they’re blaming all benders, individual benders. Me most of all, I guess.”

I sit up and wrap my arms around her, and she rests her head on my shoulder. “Korra, you’ve done more to help non-benders than any other Avatar before you. It doesn’t matter what people say.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I know you don’t like President Raiko, but he’s a non-bender who was elected to lead one of the world’s most important cities by a population where benders are in the minority. And that’s the city we saved the other week, remember. If that’s not symbolic I don’t know what is.”

Korra’s breathing is a little ragged, and I realise she is crying. Instinctively I smooth her hair and she laughs. “Thanks, Asami. Really. I can’t… I mean, there’s no one else I can talk to about these things. It means a lot.” Her voice is muffled against my chest.

“Any time, Korra.” Above us, the sky has turned a razorsharp orange. “Korra, did you take me up here to watch the sun set? Very smooth.” I look down, expecting to see her blush, but she only smiles through her tears.

“Yeah,” she says. “I did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, this one has something other than fluff! Hooray!


	5. Tea

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

“Of course! It’s just taking longer than I thought, that’s all.”

“Okay, but that raccoon-dog spirit told us to take a right at the forest of giant lily pads--”

“Which we did!”

“--only we’re still in a forest of giant lily pads so I’m wondering whether its advice was strictly helpful.”

Korra throws up her arms and aims a kick at the nearest lily stem. It wobbles disapprovingly and she glares back at it. “So maybe we’re lost, a bit.”

“A bit?” I say, keeping my face carefully blank as Korra’s staring contest intensifies. We’ve been walking half the morning, and I take the opportunity to sit down. “I thought you’d been before.”

She gives up and turns away from the lily, and my composure cracks. “Don’t think I won’t kick you just because you’re, well, you,” she says, half under her breath. “And that was different. I always found him just when I needed him. I’ve never, I don’t know, shown up for morning tea.”

“Maybe that’s the problem. We’re trying too hard. Aren’t you supposed to have a special connection with the Spirit World?”

“So, what, I should try meditating instead?”

I shrug. “It seems to work for Jinora.”

Korra groans, but she sits down next to me. She looks into my eyes, leans closer, and says, very seriously, “Asami, I hope you know what it means that I’m willing to meditate for you.”

I laugh and she pulls away, places one hand on the stem of the lily that had bested her, and closes her eyes. Her breathing evens out and she sits, preternaturally still. At length one eye cracks open. Our surroundings haven’t changed, and instantly she is my fidgety, slightly irritable Korra again. “Well, it was worth a try,” she says, but her words trail off because behind us the distant but unmistakable sound of conversation has cut into the silence.

We turn in unison. There is a meadow, and at its far end a house, and in front of the house a table from which laughter rises in the air. I am quite sure none of these things were there a moment ago.

“I hate you,” Korra says, “nearly as much as I hate Jinora.”

*

We approach quickly, but the distance is stubborn and refuses to close in the usual manner. We watch, quite clearly, as the host rises and bids his guests farewell, waving until they disappear one by one. It is as though the Spirit World is keeping our appointments carefully separate, because the moment the last of the spirits vanish we are there and Iroh is turning to greet us.

“Korra! It is good to see you again.” He is smiling, but his gaze turns to me with deliberate curiosity. I try to hang back, but Korra takes my hand and pulls me forward.

“Iroh, I’d like you to meet my…” She pauses, and I feel her tighten with indecision. Then she glances at me and her expression softens. “I’d like you to meet Asami.”

His demeanour changes imperceptibly and suddenly I am included in the warmth of his laugh. “Welcome, Asami! How good of Korra to bring someone from the Fire Nation, that an old man might reminisce about his misspent youth.”

My mind searches in vain for the appropriate title. “It’s an honour to meet you,” I say. “But I’m afraid I grew up in Republic City.”

He waves a hand dismissively. “No matter. Come! Sit!”

The table is a simple affair, rough-hewn but reassuringly solid. Korra and I sit on one bench while Iroh busies himself with a tray of tea. He asks about the new spirit portal, and Korra launches into a summary of recent events.

I lean against the table, content to let the words wash over me and watch Iroh prepare tea. His motions are sure and ritualised, utterly at odds with his outward appearance. The tea caddy is red, simple, but all the same he puts the lid down carefully, lacquer side up. The bowls don’t match and each receives two identical scoops of powdered tea. As I watch him pour water from an iron kettle and whisk the tea gently into a froth I am filled with sudden nostalgia. I nearly gasp when Korra passes my bowl across to me.

“Are you all right?” she asks.

“Yeah.” I smile, but she doesn’t look convinced. “It’s just been… it makes me think of my family, that’s all.”

Iroh seats himself opposite us with his own bowl. “Families are difficult things,” he says, “but worth it all the same.” He smiles at me, and I see he understands.

I fight down a wave of self-consciousness and raise my bowl to him in a small gesture of gratitude. My hands rotate the bowl away from me automatically, three smooth movements, but as I raise it to my lips I see Korra downing her tea in a single gulp from the corner of my eye.

Iroh meets my eyes across the table. “It is good,” he says, “to have a guest who knows the proper handling of tea.”

Korra puts her bowl down and looks guiltily between the two of us. “What?”

“You’re supposed to drink it in sips,” I say. “Two and a half, to be precise.”

“Two and a  _ half _ ? What does that even mean? It’s like asking me to dig half a hole.”

I shrug helplessly and drink my tea, daintily, in two and a half perfect sips. I rotate the bowl back towards me and wipe it down where my lips had touched the rim. Korra glares at me.

Iroh laughs. “I like her, Korra.”

Korra visibly casts around for another topic, and her eyes fall on the rectangular tiles strewn across the table top. “Not pai sho?”

Iroh follows her gaze. “Ah, no. Some of the spirits, they have a certain lack of patience, you understand. They prefer something a little more in the moment.” He scatters a pile of acorns at his side. “Even if they do not quite understand the purpose of betting.”

I look at Iroh afresh. “You play pai sho?”

“ _ No _ ,” Korra says, too loudly. Iroh and I both turn towards her and she blushes. “I mean, yes, he does. But Asami gets competitive. You are  _ not _ allowed to ignore me for the rest of the afternoon.”

*

We don’t ignore her, and instead I end the day with a neat stack of acorns in front of me. Korra mutters as she clears the table while Iroh takes me to one side.

“It was good to meet you, Asami,” he says seriously, and again I force myself not to turn away.

“Likewise.” I hesitate. “Iroh, if I may… My father always said you would have been the wisest Fire Lord in generations. I think he was right.”

Iroh laughs, and I smile in relief. “Thank you,” he says. “But if I have some measure of wisdom it is only because I was never afforded the opportunity to become Fire Lord.”

“Can I ask you something?” I say on a whim.

“Of course.”

“If you wanted to change the world,” I say, “for the better. What would you do?”

He laughs again. “A heavy question to leave me with.” He considers. “I would not tell people that change was necessary,” he says slowly. “But I would show them that their own motivations must irrevocably lead to it.”

*

The walk back to our camp takes less than half the time the walk out had. I slump back on my bedroll and close my eyes. “That was surreal.”

“What was?”

“Meeting Iroh.”

I can hear Korra’s stillness. “Why?”

“I grew up on stories of him. Him and Zuko. Plus he’s supposed to be dead.” I open my eyes. Korra is sitting opposite me. “It was like… like someone from the faceplate of a history book getting up and talking to you."

“But you were so calm! And poised! I was the one who made a complete fool of herself.”

“There are some benefits to my upbringing. Proficiency with smalltalk is one of them.” Korra looks worried, and I smile at her. “Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed myself. You introduce me to all the most interesting people. It was just a little strange.” Abruptly my voice chokes up and there are unwanted tears in my eyes.

“Asami?” Korra says in a small voice. When I don’t reply she scoots forward and hugs me gently. “Is it your dad?”

I nod. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why, it’s just…”

She hushes me and runs her hands through my hair. “Don’t apologise. It’s okay. Do you want to talk about it?”

I let out a shuddering breath and shake my head. “Just… hold me?”

I cry myself to sleep that night but when I wake up, eyes dry and clear, Korra’s arms are still around me and the length of her body is pressed up against my back like an anchor stretching far into the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's Iroh!
> 
> In case you're wondering, yes, these are deliberately not overtly romantic. The idea was for the Spirit World to be a metaphor for the easy part of a relationship, the bit that happens without you really having to think about it.


	6. Lake

“Korra,” I say, “was there a lake here last week?”

“Sure,” Korra says. “Don’t you remember? Look at those rocks over there.”

She’s right. We’ve definitely seen those rocks before - like a giant pile of books knocked carelessly over. But the waves slapping at their sides and the wide shingle beach are brashly new in the middle of the forest.

“Okay,” I say. “Wasn’t it more… pond-shaped last time?”

“Must be the wet season.”

I look up at the beautiful cloudless sky. Korra laughs.

“Let this be a lesson to you, Asami.” She raises a finger. “Things don’t always make sense.” Then she’s off, scrambling up the sides of the rock formation. “Come on! D’you want to go swimming or not?”

I follow more sedately. By the time I join her, Korra is lying on the sun-facing slope, eyes closed, her feet inches from the high-water mark. We are only a few metres out from the shore but already the water is deeper than a person standing and so perfectly clear that the sand at its bottom seems mere inches away. I frown. “I wonder why the lakebed is sand when the beach is shingle.”

Korra opens one eye. “Asami,” she says. I sit down next to her and she smiles. “That’s better.”

I take my shoes off and place them carefully out of harm’s way. An unusually large wave splashes against our rock and over my feet, and I grimace. “It’s cold.”

Korra sits up and puts an arm around me. “Asami,” she says seriously. “Never tell a Water Tribe girl you think the water is cold.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” she says, “she might do this.”

Before I can react I am lurching forwards, the slippery rock offers no purchase, and the water rises around me. I kick wildly, my foot connects with the submerged section of rock, and I break the surface just in time to see Korra dive in after me.

“Korra,” I say between gasps of air as she surfaces next to me. “ _ You pushed me. _ ”

“Yeah,” she says, laughing. “Think of it as important cultural exchange.”

“I think I  _ already knew _ the south pole was stupidly cold.”

“Hey, ‘stupidly cold’ is all we have going for us.” She winks. “Have to make the most of it.” She pulls me into an awkward hug and I relax, letting her keep us both afloat. Slowly I stop shivering. “Besides, I wouldn’t have pushed you in if I hadn’t intended to take care of you.” Her face is inches away and she smiles. “Forgive me?”

I groan. “You’re terrible. Of course I forgive you.” She rests her forehead gently against mine and closes her eyes. We float like that for several minutes and I hardly notice when she stops treading water. Eventually I say, “it’s still cold, though.”

Korra laughs and lets go of me. I kick out in sudden panic, but the water beneath my feet is oddly solid, and then we are rising into the air at the tip of a water spout which deposits us, serenely and delicately, back on the warm rocks.

“Sorry,” Korra says once the water recedes and we are in no further danger of falling back in. “Keeping us afloat was fine, but I needed my arms free to get us back.”

“Swimming was too much effort?”

She grins. “I got you in, I got you out. Seems fair.”

“Ah, of course. Fair.” I look around casually. “You didn’t think to bring a towel, did you?”

“I had no idea there was a lake here.”

“Oh well,” I say. I turn away from her and strip quickly to my underwear, laying the wet clothes out next to my shoes.

“Um, Asami?” I turn around. Korra is sitting down, quite dry, gaze flitting up and down as if unsure where to land. “You realise I could have dried you off… right?”

I lie down next to her. The stone is warm beneath my bare back. “I make it a point,” I say archly, “not to accept help from people who have just pushed me into a lake.” I raise an eyebrow. “In the interest of fairness, you understand.”

Korra bursts out laughing. “If this is your revenge,” she says, “I need to go find some more lakes. C’mere,” she adds, and I slide over until my head is in her lap. “Sorry. I promised you swimming and this is all we get.” She strokes my wet hair carefully and I can feel the water siphon out.

“Mm. This is better.”

Soon my hair is dry. Korra doesn’t stop stroking it. “You know,” she says, “I once pushed Tenzin off a pier.” She pauses. “He reacted a bit differently.”

“How old were you?”

Korra clears her throat. “Fourteen?”

“Well,” I say slowly, “at least he had lots of practice for his own kids.”

“Hey!”

I laugh at the indignation on Korra’s face and we settle back on the warm stone. I am mostly dry already, but the thought alone of getting up to put my clothes back on feels like too much effort. After a while I say, “You really care about him.”

“Who, Tenzin?” Korra grins. “Of course. He’s like an uncle.” I pull my knees up and cross my arms. Korra’s smile fades _. _ “Hey. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. It’s nothing, don’t worry.”

She nudges me. “It’s not nothing. You sure?”

I sigh. “It’s silly.”

“Nothing is silly if it’s bothering you.”

I watch the waves for a few seconds. “It’s just… so easy for you. I envy that.”

Korra frowns. “What is?”

“I don’t know. People, I guess?”

“Asami, you know I’m awful at that. You’re the one who can wrap people around her little finger.”

I kick idly at a small stone. “That’s just it. I have to interact with people within the rules. You… you just walk in and turn everything upside down.” I bite my lip. “I’m sorry, this isn’t coming out right. But, I mean… you’ve known Tenzin since you were small. Spirits, you’ve known the  _ Fire Lord _ since you were small. And then you meet Lin or Suyin or Prince Wu, or even Mako and Bolin, and within a few days it’s like they’ll do anything for you.”

Korra laughs, a little sharply. “You think Lin will do anything for me?”

“Point taken. Maybe not Lin.”

“I don’t understand. You’ve met all those people too. You’re friends with most of them!” Korra is looking at me, worried and confused, and I feel a stab of guilt.

“I know. But… but it’s all been you. I know Tenzin and Lin and all the others because of you. My relationship with them is, well, defined by my relationship with you.” I smile tentatively. “Korra, please understand, I’m not blaming you. You’re worth all this. I just… it feels a little strange, sometimes.” Korra looks thoughtful, but she doesn’t say anything and I continue. “When you were away, I barely saw any of the others except on business.”

“What about Mako and Bolin?”

“Well, yeah, I saw quite a lot of them. At least until Bolin left. And Jinora, too, sometimes. But… I just don’t have personal relationships with people the way you do.”

Korra is quiet for a while. “I guess I’d never thought about it like that,” she says eventually. “I… spirits, this is going to sound self-centred, but I guess I’m just used to people reacting to me and paying attention to me…” She pauses. “Not always listening to me.” She sighs. “And it was just normal, you know? Because I’m the Avatar.”

I try to smile reassuringly. “I know. And I really don’t blame you. I understand why it happens. And I did mean it when I said you introduced me to all the interesting people. I’m just a little jealous sometimes, that’s all.” I laugh. “I told you it was silly.”

“It’s not silly.” Korra runs a hand up and down my arm. “If it helps, I’ve always envied how easy you find it to talk to people.”

I take her hand in mine and she squeezes briefly. “Thanks,” I say. I sit up a little and lean back against her chest. She wraps her arms around me. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to dump this on you out of nowhere.”

“It’s okay,” Korra says, fiddling with one sleeve. “I should have realised. I’m supposed to be your best friend, and I had no idea you felt this way.”

“Hey,” I say. “It’s not your fault I never told you.”

“Yeah, but I should have known. You always seem to know what’s bothering me.”

I laugh. “That’s not true. And when I do, it’s only because I have the benefit of certain letters.”

Korra blushes a little. “It really was all about me, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” I say, “because it needed to be. You had bigger problems at the time.”

“I just don’t want you to feel like I don’t care about  _ your _ problems.”

“Korra,” I say. “I promise not to hold your inability to read my mind against you.”

“Only if you promise to tell me when things are bothering you.”

I smile. “Deal.”

She tilts my head back until she can see my face. “And one more thing.”

“Yeah?”

Korra leans down and kisses the top of my head. “I think you’re selling Tenzin short. He thinks of you as part of the family, you know.”

“Really? He said that?”

“No.” Korra smiles. “But I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was setting up a central theme of the fic, which was going to have Asami establishing closer bonds with some of the people she mentions here (especially Zuko). I still quite like that as an idea.


	7. Hammering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is even more fragmented than the others! I left a note to myself that read "still needs a lead-in" and then didn't do anything with it, oh well. It's also much more related to what would have been the larger fic, but there's a cute moment at the end, so I'm including it.

“That’s not right. You were just trying to help the Southern Water Tribe!”

“Was I?” I shake my head. “Maybe. I’m just… scared now, looking back, by how excited I was. I saw it as an opportunity to put Future Industries back on its feet.” I laugh, bitterly. “It didn’t even work.”

“Still,” Korra says, placing a hand on my shoulder. “It was the right thing to do.”

“Yeah. But maybe I got lucky. Maybe the civil war was black-and-white enough that I happened to do the right thing for the wrong reasons.” My left hand makes a fist in the grass. “What if I’d never met you? What if I’d ended up selling to Unalaq instead, to save my company?”

“You wouldn’t have done that.”

“Wouldn’t I? I don’t know. How would I have known that was the wrong choice? Even if I had known, maybe I would have rationalised it to myself.” It is strange, saying these things out loud: fears I had never really articulated before, not even to myself.

Korra is silent. “I think I see what you mean,” she says eventually. Then she looks straight at me. “But Asami, that didn’t happen. Maybe you did get lucky. But everything turned out fine, in the end.”

I frown. What she’s saying nearly makes sense. “I can’t even imagine how Varrick feels. What I did didn’t really affect the civil war one way or the other.” I wrap my arms around myself. “But his weapon…” Suddenly I feel cold in the mellow afternoon light. “What actually happened is bad enough. Imagine if Kuvira had won.” I pause. “I guess I’m just worried that maybe next time I won’t be so lucky.”

Korra grins. “That’s easy. Just make sure there isn’t a next time.” She ponders for a moment. “And definitely make sure there isn’t a next time for Varrick.”

I laugh. “No danger of that. I think he’s a pacifist for life, now.” I stretch my arms and sigh. “No amount of money is worth being the man who destroyed the world.”

Korra snaps her fingers. “Asami, that’s it.”

“What?”

“The reason it all worked out is because you and Varrick are such upstanding people,” she says. I raise an eyebrow. She laughs. “More or less. But turn that around. How do we deal with the people who  _ do _ think destroying the world is worth some amount of money?”

And of course she’s right. “Make sure it’s worth so little they won’t bother.”

Korra’s eyes are shining. “Stopping the causes of war, talking to people, making them see reason--that’s impossible.” She groans. “Spirits, do I know that’s impossible.”

“But if war is inconvenient... “ I grin. “Better yet, if war is  _ expensive _ , not just for the combatants, for everyone involved…”

“Exactly!” Korra is sitting up now, and it occurs to me I have never before seen her excited by anything remotely related to politics.

I tap my fingers against my chin. “It’s not perfect, of course. People were fighting each other long before this…” I frown. “Long before war became an industry.”

“But it would guarantee no one else was ever in your situation, or Varrick’s. That’s a start.” Her excitement is tempered now, restrained, but none the weaker for it.

“So… how do we do it?”

Korra pauses, mouth half-open. “Well, uh… Okay, so there are some details that need hammering out.” She raises a finger. “And I’m not saying you should be the one doing that, but it  _ was _ my genius idea, and you’re definitely better with hammers than I am, as a rule.”

I laugh. “Don’t worry. It shouldn’t be hard to convince Varrick to help.” I run rough calculations in my head. ”Between the two of us we control a sizeable minority of the world’s manufacturing output, so if we’re pushing this… this anti-war thing, whatever it ends up being… I suppose the Touka Corporation might be a problem.” My fingers drum faster and ideas unfold in beautiful, fractal branches. “And with Zhu Li on the council…”

Korra throws her arms up. “See? Already hammering. If I’d known this would happen, I’d have kept my mouth shut.”

I look up at her. “You’re not fooling anyone. You knew exactly what would happen.” She grins. “Really, though, Korra. Thank you. I feel better  _ and _ we have the start of a truly excellent plan.” I smile and everything comes together. “I could kiss you.”

And she smiles back and says, “I know you could.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more to go!


	8. Fulcrum

Nothing lives in the valley except dust. A single, ancient-dry branch lies on the ground, in long-abandoned defiance. A small stream sings quietly across slippery rocks and in the distance snow caps mountains like a painted-on backdrop in a theatre. The water is bitterly cold. The air is colder.

“I don’t see why you like it here so much.” Korra is swinging her arms back and forth, breath clearly visible in the frigid air.

I’m not wearing much more than she is, but the cold is friendly. It is difficult to be at peace in hot places. “It’s hard to describe.” I glance sideways at her. “Thanks for humouring me.”

“Sure.” She shades her eyes against the setting sun. “But we really should head off soon. It’ll take ages getting back. Also, and I realise I am in danger of losing all claim to Water Tribe citizenship, but I would like to be warm again.”

I stand up slowly, unfolding legs stiff from kneeling. Korra brushes a strand of hair away from reddened cheeks and rubs her hands together.

“You’re beautiful,” I say.

Her hands falter for a moment. “Not as beautiful as you are,” she says, almost smoothly.

“No,” I say. “I mean, thank you, but… I could never really say it before, and now I can. So.” I take Korra’s hands and pull her towards me until our faces are nearly touching. “You’re beautiful.”

This time Korra gives the words the few seconds’ silence they deserve. “Thank you,” she says eventually, and her smile is all truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops, my bad, I forgot to put this up. this was originally meant to be a mid-point (hence "fulcrum") but it will do just fine as a capstone here.

**Author's Note:**

> You can tell this is old because I'm using double rather than single speech marks. (Single speech marks: the hipster's choice.)
> 
> I'm going to upload these every day or two until I run out. Hope y'all like them!


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